HomeMy WebLinkAbout07 28 1989 Airport study scope goes to FAASebastian Sun Week of July 28,1989 Pg. 5-A
Airport study scope goes to FAA
Agency's Orlando office will review document for approval
By George Ricker
The first step in the preparation of
a study of Sebastian Municipal Air-
port, and the community that sur-
rounds it, has been taken with the
development of a preliminary scope
of services, which has been submit-
ted to the Federal Aviation Admini-
stration, (FAA) district office in
Orlando for its review and approval.
Prepared by Jonathan Potter of
Cutler & Stanfield, the Washington,
D.C., law firm that serves as the
city's legal consultant on aviation
matters, in consultation with City
Manager Robb McClary and City
Planner Peter Jones, the document
outlines the work to be performed in
the study, which will be funded in
part by the FAA, may cost up to
$200,000 and may take up to one year
to complete.
Part of the standstill agreeement
reached by the City Council and the
FAA at the council's June 12 special
meeting, the study will form the basis
for negotiations between airport pro-
ponents and opponents.
City officials are hopeful it will
lead to a resolution of the conflicts
that have plagued the airport and the
community for the last several years.
By entering into the agreeement
with the FAA, the 'City Council
agreed to defer final adoption of the
ordinance imposing a noise limit and
operating fees on users of the airport.
The ordinance was mandated by the
charter amendment approved March
14 by about 60 percent of those who
voted.
The city also agreed not to do
anything that would change the char-
acter of the airport during the period
the agreement is in force.
For its part, the FAA agreed not to
institute proceedings to revert own-
ership of the property back to the.
federal government as long as the
city did not adopt the ordinance and
agreed to fund up to 90 percent of the
study, excluding $27,000 already
paid to the city for the airport master
plan, which was approved for sub-
mittal to the FAA late last year and
has subsequently been recalled by
the Sebastian City Council.
Any costs borne by the city in
connection with the study will be
charged to the airport enterprise fund,
according to McClary.
Potter's draft, which is dated July
19, indicates the planning study will
focus on nine areas for consideration.
They are:
* Establish the background and
history of the airport. This will in-
clude an analysis of the background
and operational history of the Sebas-
tian airport and will compare that
data with similar data from other air-
ports within a 25-mile radius and
with national aviation trends.
* Develop the traffic forecast for
the airport, including the develop-
ment of a forecasting model and the
generation of forecasts, based upon
the- assumptions contained in that
model, for the next 20 years.
* Define community and airport
needs and objectives. The study will
attempt to assess Sebastian's overall
land use and planning goals with
particular emphasis on the portions
of the community in the vicinity of
the airport, the community's goals
for airport development and aviation
service and environmental and safety
objectives for the airport and sur-
rounding areas.
As part of this task, the consultant
will define alternative airport use and
development strategies that would be
consistent with those goals.
* Determine the economic impact
of the airport on the community. Both
indirect and direct economic impact
will be examined for each of the
study's development scenarios.
* Assess the economic risks asso-
ciated with various development
strategies.
* Measure the environmental im-
pact of the airport as it is and as it will
be under the various study's develop-.
ment scenarios. The consultant is
charged with preparing noise and
land use analyses that fully explore
the alternative concepts of airport
development and noise abatement.
This portion of the study also will
consider safety and other environ-
mental impact.
* Develop engineering options. In
this element, the consultant will in-
ventory existing airport facilities and
propose alternative airport develop-
ment strategies that allow for the inte-
gration of airport needs and commu-
nity objectives.
* Evaluate airport finances. The
consultant will be responsible for
identifying airport income, expenses
and balances over the next 20 years for
each of the development -options.
* A final report will summarize the
findings of each of .the tasks in the
study, identify the key implications of
each development plan and recom-
mend a timetable and implementation
strategy for each development alter-
native.
In his introduction to the draft
memorandum, Potter wrote, "An es-
sential premise of the study will be
that the airport's role and use must be
consistent with the overall goals and
needs of the city of Sebastian in a
proper balance with such appropriate
federal objectives.
"Rather than fitting the city of Se-
Peter Jones
bastiaEi to d-qe Sebastian Municipal
Airpov. or vice versa, the study will
attempt to identify ways to fit the two
together."
That language is identical to what is
in the standstill agreement between
the city and the FAA on June 12.
According to a cover letter from
McClary to the members of the City
Council, Jones will have the responsi-
bility for coordination of the project.
McClary originally had 'intended to
assign that cask to the assistant city
manager, once someone had been
hired for the post. However, budget-
ary constraints have forced McClary
to postpone hiring anyone for the job
until, at least, the beginning of the next
fiscal year.
Jones said he doubts the study will
cost more than the $200,000 the FAA
has medicated is the limit it will fund.
In accordance of the terms of the
FAA's agreement with the city, if the
study costs $200,000, the FAA will
pay $153,000, and the airport enter-
prise fund will pay $47,000.
It is impossible to estimate the
likely cost of the study at this time,
Jones said.
"The cost of the study will be
shaped by the value of the data already
gathered in the airport master plan and
other studies of the airport," he said.
Other considerations will be the
availability of additional data and the
need for detailed noise, environ-
mental and biological studies.
Saying he intends to do what he
can to insure the study is not side-
tracked into peripheral areas, Jones
said, "The last thing we need is an-
other study that does not give us the
information we need."
He noted the planning study most
likely will be a team effortwith a con-
sulting firm hired with overall re-
sponsibility. That firm probably will
subcontract some elements of the
study.
"I know of no firm that can deal
with all of the issues raised. Noise
and environmental studies typically
require a specialized approach,"
Jones stated.
Ilia A. Quinones-Flott, manager of
plans and programs at the FAA's
Orlando office, said the agency is in
the process of reviewing the prelimi-
nary scope of services, and hopes to
have the FAA's comments on their
way to the city by Friday.
She said no grant application has
been submitted yet.
"Typically, that would not happen
until the requests for proposals have
been put, out and a consultant has
been selected," she said. "The pro-
posal will be subject to the availabil-
ity of funding."
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